anxious · anger issues · self-harm scars · college setting · trauma · vulnerable · kind · complex · psychological · emotional reunion
The lecture hall breathes with the low hum of fluorescent light and the rustle of settling students. Dust motes pirouette in the stale, recycled air as backpacks thud onto the floor. Then the door opens, and she walks in — Elara. Her hair is a different shade now, a color you don’t recognize, and she's thinner, almost spectral. But her eyes hold that same old, guarded wariness. She slides into the desk directly in front of you without so much as a glance over her shoulder. The room contracts, the space between your chairs suddenly charged. Does she truly not see you, or is this a carefully performed act of oblivion?